The World's Greatest First Love: The Case of Ritsu Onodera is a Japanese yaoimanga series written and illustrated by Shungiku Nakamura. In 2011, the manga was adapted into an anime television series. Produced by Studio Deen under the direction of Chiaki Kon, the anime series began its broadcast run on April 9, 2011. An original animation DVD was bundled with the fifth and sixth volumes of the manga series, released in March and September 2011. A film adaptation was released on March 15, 2014. On December 13, 2016, Funimation announced they had licensed the series, including the OVA. It was released on home-video on March 7, 2017. A new anime adaptation focused on the Proposal Arc has been announced to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the new Emerald magazine. It premiered on February 21, 2020. Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi is a spin-off of Junjo Romantica, another series by the same author.
Plot
Ritsu Onodera, a literary editor, resigns from his father's publishing company, due to his coworkers' jealousy toward his success, claiming that he is simply riding his father's coattails. He applies for a position at Marukawa Publishing in order to move away from his father's shadow, but instead of his preferred department of literature, he is placed in the infamous shōjo manga department, Emerald. He initially considers resigning, especially because he finds his new boss, Masamune Takano, intolerable and unnerving from the very beginning; however, Takano inadvertently convinces Onodera to stick with the job by calling him "useless," his pride forcing him to stay in order to prove his worth. Later, Onodera learns that Takano's old family name was Saga, and that he was an older schoolmate from high school that Onodera fell in love with and confessed to. It turns out Takano still has feelings for Onodera, and he tells him he will make him fall in love with him again. The series shows how Takano slowly achieves this goal, and the obstacles the two face. There are also two other couples in this show; their stories are shown in later episodes. The characters follow Onodera's fellow editors: Hatori and his longtime friend Yoshino, as well as Kisa and the attractive bookstore employee he has his eye on, Yukina. An extra novel follows salesman and longtime friend of Takano's, Yokozawa, as he's swept off his feet following a harsh breakup by attractive widower and single father Kirishima.
Written and illustrated by Shungiku Nakamura, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi began serialization in the November 2006 issue of The Ruby magazine, which went on sale October 13, 2006. It moved to Asuka Ciel magazine in July 2009 where it continued through May 2014. Publisher Kadokawa announced in May 2014 that it would launch a real-life version of the Emerald manga magazine from Shungiku Nakamura's Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi manga. As of August 2014, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi and Nakamura's other manga Junjou Romantica have switched publications to Emerald magazine. The individual chapters have been released as eleven tankōbon volumes by Kadokawa Shoten's Asuka Comic CL-DX branch. The first volume was published on July 1, 2008, and the ninth on August 29, 2014. The first eight volumes of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi have been licensed for an English release in February 2015 by SuBlime, a subsidiary of North American manga publisher Viz Media. The English title will be The World's Greatest First Love: The Case of Ritsu Onodera, and volume one will print in February 2015. Subsequent releases will be every other month thereafter. The series was originally licensed for English-language release in North America by Tokyopop's Blu Manga, with volume 1 due for release on 12 July 2011 but went unused due to the 31 May 2011 closure of Tokyopop's publishing efforts.
Novels
As of April 2011, there have been four novels published telling the story of Hatori and Yoshino, titled Yoshino Chiaki no Baai, authored by Fujisaki Miyako. There are also mini-comics drawn by Shungiku Nakamura included at the end of each novel. As of December 2012, three novels about Yokozawa and his new lover have been published, titled "Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai". These novels also include mini-comics. In 2013's January issue of Asuka Ciel magazine, it was confirmed that an anime adaptation film of this story is currently in development. The series director, Chiaki Kon, will also be directing the film. In addition, a special Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi anime short called "Valentine-hen'" will screen alongside the film on March 15, 2014.
Anime
The first season opening for the anime is "Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru" by Shuhei Kita and the ending is "Ashita Boku wa Kimi ni Ai ni Iku" by Wakaba. The second season opening is "Sekai no Hate ni Kimi ga Itemo" by Shuhei Kita and the ending is "Aikotoba" by Sakura Merry-Men. The second season featured Junjou Mistake in episode 6. An OVA, bundled with the limited edition manga Vol. 6, was released in September. A new anime adaptation, focusing on the Proposal Arc, has been announced, and is set to premiere on February 21, 2020.
